In the past 28 years, Ken Paine has grown two businesses into multimillion-dollar organizations and continues to make innovative changes to his industry. Paine is the founder of Hy-Tech Products and Industrial Heat Solutions and leads both organizations with a commitment to improving products, customer service and marketing, and making necessary changes to remain unique.
As far as his business philosophy, “Success in business is contingent upon your ability to innovate faster and more effectively than the competition. If you’re not innovating, you’re standing still and setting yourself up to be overtaken,” Paine says.
In order to remain at the forefront of his industries, Paine monitors industry trends and customer satisfaction, adapting new technologies to remain current and seeking advice from customers, employees and advisers as to how he can improve his services.
Hy-Tech’s project developments demonstrate Paine’s ability to respond to customer needs. In 2003, Paine developed the Hot Air Welding Gun due to his dissatisfaction with the hot-air hand tools on the market. Its high quality coupled with Hy-Tech’s unparalleled customer service made it an attractive alternative to the current market leading Triac S.
Leister Technologies, manufacturer of Triac S, offered Paine master distributor rights to half its U.S. roofing market and 13 states of its industrial heat market in exchange for halting HAWG’s production. This offer resulted in the formation of Industrial Heat Sources, a company that has grown to more than $6 million in sales from its creation in 2006.
Following the 2008 economic recession, Paine found a new approach to generating sales using online technologies and invested in an inbound marketing campaign focused on digital activities meant to generate website traffic, leads and sales. Such strategies included a focus on SEO and social media, and Paine’s willingness to meet the demands of the market by investing in the latest marketing technology resulted in heightened Web traffic and a record high for 2011 sales.
Between the development of new products in both industries and unique management techniques that withstand economic instability and industry competition, Paine maintains that innovation is fundamental to developing successful companies that continue to grow and surpass industry expectations.
How reach: Hy-Tech Products and Industrial Heat Sources, (216) 661-5000, @IHShotair, @HyTechRoof, www.hy-techroof.com or www.ihshotair.com
